Sweet Dreams
by lilmaimas
Summary: Senior year is hard enough, but when the phrase "I see dead people" becomes accurate, life turns difficult. Especially when werewolves start harassing you while a secret organization is trying to kidnap you. Can Chloe Saunders survive this? chlerek AU
1. Prologue

Prologue:

Empty. I feel Empty. No, sorry, that's a lie. I feel Empty except for the words that keep bouncing from here to there in my skull.

_Mom's dead._

She had been for a while. I knew it. I did. Really. Every anniversary though, it was a little harder to get up, to breathe, to think at all. I didn't talk about it though. Tomorrow I would be fine, like nothing happened today. I knew it really didn't hurt as bad anymore. Still, that wound had never healed and…just this day was really hard to get through.

My eyes started to prickle and I knew I was on the verge of crying again. The last wave of tears had ended a few hours ago, I suppose this one was right on schedule, but it would be the last today. I knew that for certain.

Then my thoughts started to lead me to dark places where even worse things hide and people fall into the fettle position.

_Maybe she…Maybe I…Maybe…_

This needs to stop. It's unnecessary. This is the part where I get up and move along. Sighing, I take a gulp of air and swallow the feelings up.

I shifted under the covers, my body feeling weak and weary, like movement required ten times the normal effort. _Maybe I should crawl out of this cocoon…_ Seemed like a promising thing to consider. Relocating this little pity party might change my thoughts as well as the scenery.

My hands clumsily searched for the way out of my bed covers, fumbling over the sheets and themselves, and then suddenly came into contact with cool air. "Ugh," I groaned, "maybe I should just stay here…"

And then my phone started chirping.

Pushing my covers off of my tangled body, I turned towards my nightstand to see my obnoxiously pink phone vibrating and affectively causing the entire thing to shake nervously.

Message From: Liz

**im on my way ovr rite now hun**

Sat, Oct 17 10:14 am

_How does she even know? I hadn't told her when..._

I ducked back under my covers, hiding the tears that were brimming from the rest of the world.


	2. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkest Powers series.

Chapter One -

Hearing the ring of my alarm clock, I grudgingly pushed my covers off and rolled off the bed.

_**Whoomp**_.

I landed on the wood flooring. Hard.

Muttering to myself, I scrambled across the floor of my room to turn off the incessant beeping of my alarm. With the beeping gone, and my alarm on snooze, I laid on the floor, pressing my face against the cool floor, trying to calm down from the momentary panic.

Panic not because of the alarm really, though I wish it was, but because of the odd dreams I've been having lately. I know they're elaborate, I remember thinking that they are while I dream, and I know that they're…different, I remember thinking that as I dream too, but I never can seem to remember what it is I actually was dreaming of after I wake up.

It's like…seeing a question on a test, knowing you know the answer and what the words would look like, but can't grasp what they actually are. It's incredibly frustrating.

I've been trying to instantly recall the dreams after I wake, it says on the internet that the more you try to recall, eventually the more you will remember, yet even that hasn't helped. If anything it seems to have made things worse. I used to vaguely think of a subject that the dream was surrounding, now I remember next to nothing, emotions mostly, but those aren't exactly helpful when out of context.

_**Beeeeeeeeeeep. Beeeeeeeeeep. Beeeeeee-**_

Slapping the alarm for interrupting my thoughts, I moved to lie back down on the floor again, but thought better of it. Knowing that if I keep this up I'd be late to school again today, and it wouldn't do me any good to start out the week by getting detention on a Monday.

Rolling over onto my back, I sprung forward, and headed to the bathroom for a much needed shower.

.x.x.x.x.x.

Looking over the clock on the microwave, and seeing that it was already 6:47, I hopped off the counter, grabbed my backpack and jacket and ran for the front door, knowing, although Liz was a kind and caring person, she wasn't exactly patient. Not wanting to push my luck, seeing as this was already a favor, I ran to the end of my driveway, ignoring the brisk cold air that bristled my senses and hurriedly tossed my jacket on.

And then I waited.

I had rushed through my morning, so I never really got around to thinking about it, but with all this extra time presenting itself at this moment...

I leaned into the street, trying to get a better angle to see if Liz was closing in on my street.

Seeing and hearing nothing, I leaned back.

With a sigh, I realized it was going to happen sooner or later, and now would be a better time rather than later in class.

I let the weekend flow over me. Let the stress of it all fall off of me like leaves, slowly drifting to the ground and dying off.

Liz, being the fantastic person she was, had come over, as she had said she would, and appeared at my front door bearing the gift of Ben and Jerry's by the pint. I'd let her in, Dad was off on another business trip, and we ate the day away while watching old movies, like Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and Victor Fleming's Gone with the Wind. I was already crying, so it suited the day.

The whole day went like that, watching movie after movie, alternating between genres, and never once talking about my mother, which I was thankful for.

At around ten at night Liz had left, proclaiming that she needed to study for and exam of some sort. Knowing her it probably was a quiz, but she'd study like it was an exam all the same.

And then I had slept like a baby, except for the restless dreams that is.

I felt better having let the day just sort of happen and then moved along with the rest of my life.

Standing on the edge of our driveway, I couldn't help but wonder if it would've been different if we hadn't moved here half way through Freshman year, Dad insisting that I needed a stable environment, even if he couldn't be there, at least the scenery would be the same to me.

_If we were still moving around or in our last place I wouldn't have had Liz._

With that thought, I sobered up. Everything happens for a reason. _At least I had Liz with me for it and I wasn't sitting home alone like last year._

The honking of a car horn released me from my thoughts. Grasping my backpack firmly by the strap, I swung it over my shoulder and quickly made my way to Liz's car.

_She sure does have fantastic timing._

.x.x.x.x.x.

Sitting in the morning traffic, I idly listened to Liz's chatter of rattling off this weekend's gossip, who broke-up with who, what party was raided, and how Friday's football game went.

How Liz was capable of talking that much this early in the morning, I have no idea, but I did my best to "Hmm" and "Haah" at all the right times. The girl was driving me as a favor after all; best to be courteous to that sort of generosity, never know when it might run out.

Half-heartedly listening to her story of a party that went tragically south after the football game, we pulled into the school's driveway. Still trying to pay attention, I stared into the parking lot with drooping eyes, and I heard "-and you know Simon?"

I nodded; only vaguely aware of whom she was referring to. There were about three Simon's in our grade, could be any Simon.

"Well his brother Derek was there-"

And that left only one Simon. Simon Bae and Derek Souza. What an odd pair. The two rarely socialized in school, but not for Simon's lack of trying. I never really paid them too much attention, thinking it rude to pry into other people's business, but I knew that Derek was Simon's foster brother and that they had a half-sister named Victoria Enright, who went by Tori for short. Their family seemed like some sort of midday soap opera, with all of them looking completely different from each other and their personalities being more so.

Everyone knew, however, that that meant nothing. If you messed with one of them, the wrath of all of them came down upon you, and you regretted whatever you'd done in seconds.

"-and he got jumped by some guys and-"

"Wait. What?"

That got my attention. Derek Souza was huge. Big as a linebacker on our football team and nearly bigger too, at six foot something with I don't even know how much muscle he had on him. The guy was big and the guy was ill-tempered. Not someone you bother, let-alone jump.

"Yeah!" Liz excitedly turned her attention to me as she parked the car, "He was there with Simon, I saw them! And later in the night when everybody was sort of rounding up to leave we heard some shouting from outside, a low-n-behold, Derek was getting jumped by some four or five guys!"

I just stared at her. Four or five guys. Four or_ five_ guys.

"E-Excuse m-me. What?"

Seeing that she had my attention, Liz's eyes lit up as she told the story, taking on a story-teller voice as if this was the most important story in existence and she was the last person alive that knew it.

"Well. Everyone heard shouting outside, that was left inside, so I ran out to see what was up, so did a bunch of other people. And Derek was out in the street a house down with five or so guys around him with Simon yelling! Derek stood in the center of the guys, 'cause they sort of surround him in, like, a circle. And Simon was being held back by another guy as the guys closed in on Derek!"

Her eyes flashed brighter, as if she could see the story happening in front of her right now as we sat in the car.

"And then, all the guys jumped him!"

I just continued to stare at her stupidly._ They what? How?_

"Did he fight back at all? Or…" I let the question fade as she shook her head solemnly.

"That's the weird part Chlo," I looked back to her eyes from where I had let my gaze stray to outside the car at the sound of my name, "He didn't fight back at all. He just took it. Didn't even flinch. Just let it happen, like he was expecting it or something."

Shaking my head, I let the disturbing image of the kid I barely knew getting beaten to a pulp fly out of my head. I did not need to see that over and over today. Even if the guy was an ass, he didn't deserve that sort of…gang justice or whatever. Maybe a slap upside the head, but nothing like the story Liz was telling or the images playing in my head like a film.

Sighing, I looked over at the time on Liz's car dash.

**7:20 AM** flashed in bright green.

"Shit!" I yipped as I opened the door and fell out of the car.

.x.x.x.x.x.

I ran through the hallway, rubbing my hip and muttering to myself. "Liz and her six minute fast clock. Who even does that?"

Shifting through the groups of people talking and giggling together in the morning, or just sitting on the floor against the wall, I tried to get to my locker without bumping into as many people as possible. I couldn't quite understand how all these people were completely awake already. Early AM and I was fine, but anything past 6:00 AM and before 9:30 AM was a hellish time for me. I just simply couldn't do it. All classes in that general time were a waste of effort and I mostly slept through them to be completely honest.

"Maybe I shouldn't have put my math class as my first hour on an 'A' day…" I mumbled, the words more than slightly unintelligible.

Finally making it to my locker, I shoved my backpack in and grabbed my Pre-Calculus textbook, notebook, writing binder, and graphing calculator, along with my perky neon green pencil case.

Slamming my locker door shut and sighing briefly, I mentally prepared myself for this special form of torture I was about to endure. I bit my lip, thinking, _Maybe I could make an excuse to leave half way through as a sort of reward break if I stay awake?_ Nodding my head, I decided it was a decent enough plan and began my miserable trek to the math wing.

.x.x.x.x.x.

Kneading my left temple with two fingers, I couldn't help but be distracted in this class. I didn't understand a single piece of it and just kept staring at what Ms. Blanch was writing across her dim projector. _Son of a biscuit I suck at math._

Sucking in a breath and puffing out my cheeks, I decided now was as good a time as any to escape the class quickly.

Quietly leaving my desk and taking the pass with a nod to Ms. Blanch, I made my way into the hall to escape the dizzying confusion of the classroom.

Walking briskly to the wing's bathroom, I took a hard turn into the bathroom and met a very firm wall of person.

"Oomff." I gasped, falling, once more, on my ass.

"Watch where you're walking, ya 'tard ball."

Grimacing, I glanced up to see who it was I had offended so badly. Lo' and behold, it was Tori Enright, the schools resident bitch, if not my grade's. I'm not exactly sure what her problem was, but the girl was rude to many and nice to few, very few. I'd only ever really seen her get along with Liz, though there were others whom she tolerated.

Cringing even more at the thought that I may have just moved to heard bad side, I tried to ignore the piercing glare of the taller female with short and spikey black hair.

Snorting at, no doubt, my submitting immediately and avoiding her gaze, she moved as if I wasn't even there and tossed back a "Dumb blonde" before she was out of my range of sight.

Letting myself fall all the way to the ground, I laid on the carpeted floor for a moment.

_God this is going to be a looong day._

Jumping to my feet with a huff, I shuffled into the spotless cinderblock bathroom as quietly as I could manage.

Checking all of the stalls for feet, I went from one end of the six stall bathroom to the other. Satisfied that the bathroom was indeed empty, I went to the sinks and washed my hands quickly, thinking of the floor I had touched moments ago.

Searching for a paper towel dispenser that actually had paper towel, I gave up and came back to the sink after drying my hands on my jeans.

As I wiped my hands, I couldn't help but let my mind drift to the look on Tori's face. The brief moment before I smacked into her, her expression looked almost…worried. What could she possibly have to worry about? As far as I could tell, life seemed to be going decently. Yet, I knew, at least a small part of me did, that not everything was as it seemed. She could have troubles and just not wear them on her sleeve.

Smacking my forehead, I couldn't believe I had forgotten about the fight her brother had supposedly gotten into. _Maybe she was worried about him?_ I wondered. Then again, she never seemed to show any interest in either of her brothers…

"Stop it, Chloe," I chided myself. "It's none of your business, so stop worrying."

Then, like any other girl would do, I examined my reflection in the mirror skeptically.

I was short. Maybe just over 5' 2 ½", and yes, that ½ counted oh so very much to me. It was aggravating at this height. I wasn't so short that I was considered cute, but not tall enough to be able to reach things without climbing or standing on my tippie toes, making it both useless and an inconvenience.

Then there was the fact that, well, for a seventeen year-old girl, I wasn't very curvy. Sure, I did indeed have curves, but with how I dressed, they were hardly noticeable. _Perhaps I should work on that?_ I thought, with a glance at my dark skinny jeans and fuzzy black sweater that nearly passed my bottom.

Shaking my head I examined my face. The mascara and smidgen of eye-liner I had put on this morning were exact and did actually compliment my deep blue eyes. I would give myself that one benefit, I did have nice eyes, a special kind of blue that was both dark and light. The dark bruise marks around my eyes from lack of sleep, however, made them seem almost sunken in, like I might be sick. The fact that I was pale as all get-out didn't really help the situation either.

And finally, there was my hair. A few years back I had decided it would be a good idea to streak my strawberry blonde hair with bright blood red hair dye. It looked cool, it really did, for about two whole weeks, and then it started fading and my hair started growing and it simply looked awkward. At least that was gone now though, and all that was left was strawberry blonde that reached my middle back.

So I had decent eyes and decent, somewhat uncooperative, hair. Overall, I wouldn't classify myself as much to look at.

Steering my thoughts away from the road of "Will anybody ever like me?" boulevard, I glanced back at my eyes. I really needed to get some sleep. Soon.

Thinking quickly, I tried to think of any classes I could sleep in today without too much backfire, but came up with none. It was possible to take a quick nap in my next class, but nothing substantial was possible until after I was home and my homework finished.

Feeling defeated and much too tired for the day I had ahead of me, I turned around quickly headed back to my math class, knowing full well that less than a half hour was left before my next hour.

.x.x.x.x.x.

**Author's Note:**

**Okey dokey! First full chapter out (my apologies for it being short, but I think it's somewhat necessary heh), and nearly in time for the release of Kelley's new book **_**The Calling**_**! I must say I am really excited to read it haha.**

**Anyway! Next chapter there will be a bit of Derek, so at least there's that!**

**And thank you very much xxlovelaughlivexx for the review!**

**To everyone else, Review if you would like, and/or if you would like there to be more, because the only way I know anyone actually **_**likes**_** to read this is if people review haha.**


	3. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkest Powers Series.

Chapter Two -

Stumbling back to my locker to retrieve my books for my second hour, I nearly fell down the main staircase twice from all the people pushing and shoving their way to and fro. I knew it was partly from the lack of sleep, but it kind of pissed me off that the people in this school were so…just so…ugh! Why couldn't anyone be remotely respectful of their fellow human being as they passed by them? Seriously, how hard is it to not hit everyone around you?

I was trying not to groan out loud or voice my complaints, when I noticed half the staircase wasn't even moving. Sure, it was separated by a divider, grey as can be, dirty too, but there was no reason to just idle about like there was nothing to do on them. Growing incredibly frustrated and trying to keep myself from shoving the people in front of me or stepping on the back of their knee, I noticed, not only was half the staircase frozen, they also were nearly silent, and it was beginning to infect my side of the staircase.

Almost instantaneously, everyone seemed to be staring in the same direction. Naturally, I wanted to see what all this ridiculous crap was about, so I turned to look too.

I hadn't expected to be able to see what everyone was looking at. Well, I hadn't been expecting that what everyone was looking at was on the landing in between the first and second floor, yet there the scene unfolded.

Two seniors, boys who I didn't know the name of, let alone talked to, seemed to be trying to corner another kid who I couldn't quite see.

_Oh_, my eyes went wide, _That explains a lot then._

Then the kid getting cornered stepped to the side a bit, and I could almost see his –

"Oh shit," I heard the lanky Junior next to me mutter, "that's Derek Souza."

I flinched at that. _Wasn't he in a fight over the weekend?_ I wondered, recalling Liz's gossip quickly, trying to un-jumble my thoughts from all the math I had tried to memorize not five minutes ago.

Remembering that it was _five_ guys he had supposedly gone up against this weekend, I couldn't help but be amazed that he was in school. _Maybe there was no fight and that was just som_ –

"You sonuvabitch," the taller of the two boys snarled at the cornered Derek. "You broke Mike's arm! He's not going to be able to play football for the rest of the season!"

The guy's neck was bulging, clearly he was pissed, but Derek didn't even seem to notice. He just sort of leaned back against the wall, letting the guy have his little rant, while his face remained neutral the entire time, like he couldn't care less what they were saying about him.

"I swear to GOD, you sonuvabitch, I'll beat the ever –"

"You'll what?"

The boy who was yelling froze, his rant dying there on his lips. "Well…I-I…You see –"

"No. I don't see, Kyle." I glanced up the staircase, and I could see whoever was talking was walking swiftly through the crowd and making their way towards, I guess, Derek, Kyle, and friend.

When he reached the landing and started speaking again, I realized who it was that was somewhat defending Derek, the football captain, at least I was pretty sure that he was.

"Now. Why don't you head on in to class?" he nearly snarled, getting into Kyle's face.

"Ye-yes, sir."

And with that, the two boys who were harassing Derek made their way up the staircase and disappeared in the crowd.

…_The hell?_

"Now, everybody else. Carry on."

_Excuse me?_

I glanced back again to see what was happening with Derek, but couldn't quite make it out thanks to the fact that everyone was moving once more. As I was getting shuffled along once more by the crowd, I could see the football captain place his hand on Derek's shoulder, and Derek's jaw clench in response.

_What in the hell._

.x.x.x.x.x.

Rushing to Independent Reading, my book and binder clamped close to my chest, I couldn't help but wonder why that football guy helped out Derek. As far as I knew, Derek wasn't on the team, wasn't part of any team actually. He didn't even participate in a club. The guy was a loner, besides his brother Simon, so, why did any part of that scene occur at all?

I tried to envision the scene from other angles, using my movie prose to help me along. The outcast of the school is in trouble. Two on one. Then the football captain comes…to save the day? Even as part of a script it sounded like bull. From everything I heard about the football captain, he was a bigger jerk than Derek and had a lot of pull in this school. It just didn't make any sense.

Shaking my head, I tried to rid myself of the ridiculous thoughts as I stepped into my Reading class, two minutes late.

"Nice of you to join us, Ms. Saunders," Mr. Jacobs sneered, his smile showing just how much he detested me and this entire class.

"M-my ap-pologies, s-sir."

Cursing my stutter, I quickly headed to my seat in the far corner, boxed in by cabinets, other desks, and a window to the side. As, I arranged my things on my desk, I was trying to pay attention to Mr. Jacobs explaining what it was we were to do today.

"As always, do as your group is assigned to do today, like Timed Reading, Critical Reading, etc. etc." he drawled out, clearly bored even though it was only second hour.

"And when you're finished you may begin your Independent Reading for the day."

It was weird though, because as he said that, the class went silent. We were never silent. There was always someone trying to talk to another someone in our class about something or other.

"Why, Mr. Souza. How kind of you to show up."

I froze. My eyes were trained on my desk. _He was in this class? I never noticed! How didn't I notice? He's a big guy! Kinda hard to miss!_ I thought he was only in one of my classes on "A" days!

Convincing myself that, one, I didn't really look around in this class, too busy with reading, and two, he must sit somewhere in the back normally and get here early or something, I noticed a shift in the seat next to me. _Oh, mother fuck._

I glanced over ever so slightly, my eyes just barely moving.

He was sitting there. Derek Souza was sitting there. Right next to me.

I'd never noticed how big the guy was before. I always assumed he was about 6 foot. Oh hell was I wrong. He was at _least_ 6' 5" with a build to match it. I couldn't really tell if it was just bulk or muscle though (his clothes were rather baggy and bland). With the way he held himself in his seat though, I had a feeling it was the later.

After examining and realizing all of this, I still couldn't see his face. It was obscured by a mess of almost midnight black somewhat wavy hair. It seemed to want to be curly, but didn't feel as if it should put too much effort into attempting it. _Perhaps it would be curly if it were shorter?_

Lost in trying to determine how exactly to describe his hair, I was shocked when I saw forest green eyes with streaks of golden green piercing through the center.

_Oh fuck._

Well, now that I'm a creeper…

Letting my eyes shoot back to my desk, I couldn't help but be suddenly very much aware of how close we were sitting right now. This class was one of those classes where the teacher decided it was a good idea to group the desks into four, so four people and their desks were practically on top of each other.

_Calm down Chloe. This doesn't even matter. Sure. You normally sit alone. Whatever. It's ok. This is no big deal. Sure. This guy does seem to be turning up _everywhere_ today. Not a problem. You're just noticing because you heard that rumor about him earlier from Liz._

He shifted in his seat.

_Oh I am so screwed._

.x.x.x.x.x.

I had planned on sleeping through Independent Reading. After finishing my reading evaluation bull, I could pretend I was doing my reading and just have my book in front of my face while I took a nice and well deserved nap. But no. Nope. Nuh-uh. Not happening.

Derek Souza had me on edge. I have no idea why, but the boy made me anxious as all get-out.

I stayed in a limited piece of area at my desk, and hardly moved from my original position. It was like being afraid something was going to suddenly pop out and bite your arm off.

When the bell finally rang and he all but bolted out of the classroom, I released a sigh of relief, but suddenly found myself offended. _What reason did he have to leave so suddenly like that? I didn't do anything to him. Or maybe…_

Maybe he noticed how I was on edge, and figured out it was because of him, and was greatly offended.

_Crap._

Maybe he didn't though! And yet, I had a nagging suspicion in the back of my mind that told me he did know. He knew all too well.

.x.x.x.x.x.

Wandering into the cafeteria, my lunch bag scrunched up in my hand, I attempted to find any sign of Rae, Liz, or even Beth.

Rae was copper. Everything from her hair and her skin to her personality was copper, if that makes sense. She was strong, independent, and very in your face, in a "Here I am!" kind of way. And boy was she a gossip. Liz gossiped, but not the same way Rae did. It was a way of life, almost, for Rae.

She talked to anyone and everyone about everything, making her a rather difficult person to trust with secrets or really talk to at all. She was my friend all the same though. A part of me wondered if she gossiped because she was on the heavier side and felt like she needed to compensate for it, but that seemed completely ridiculous. She had curves I could only dream of having, and was even more beautiful because of it.

If Rae was copper, Liz was the sky. Her hair was as bright as the sun and nearly the same color, with eyes bright light blue that shimmered with emotions too complex to understand. She was gorgeous and sociable. A perfect teenage girl, she was always there for anyone and everyone when they needed help, even if she wasn't exactly and all "A" student. She was probably the best friend I've ever had or will from here on out.

Then, of course, there was Beth. Lately, we'd been drifting a bit, but I guess that happens over time and when the realization of having practically nothing in common hits like a brick wall. Still, we were both keeping up with each other. We continued to be interested in each other's works. She in my film and plays, and I in her art and dance. Beyond being artsy kids though, we didn't have much to talk about.

I sometimes wondered if it was because of the falling out I'd had with Miranda last year when she made fun of me for not yet having any boyfriend to speak of nor any interest in getting one. I knew Beth and Miranda were still close, even if Beth was similar to how I felt about all that, but she did have a boyfriend nowadays…

My little friendship analysis was cut off when I saw Liz, standing on a chair and waving her arms wildly, not two tables away from where I stood.

Smiling at her enthusiasm, I made my way over to the table, weaving through bustle of students trying to sit, get to their own table, or eat in general.

Before I could even get a chance to sit down, Liz was already telling me the new stories of Derek Souza floating about. Apparently everybody that had seen that little altercation on the staircase had their own version of what, why, and how it all happened.

"This kid in my second hour was talking about how Derek paralyzed some guy! And that his friends were yelling at him on the staircase to help pay for his medical bills and that he refused and attacked the two boys!"

I just stared at Liz.

_How? How in the hell was that even a likely story?_

"I don't really believe him though…" she trailed off, her eyes glancing behind me and then all around us, obviously to see if anyone was listening.

"From what I've heard from Tori, Derek's a pretty level headed guy and doesn't like confrontation. If anything he's a little annoying and a bit of a jerk. So I don't really get what's going on…" she trailed off again, her eyes glazing over in thought.

Not wanting to disrupt her thought process, I sat down as quietly as possible and dumped out the contents of my lunch from its sad brown paper bag. Last night I had quickly made myself my lunch for the next day before heading up to bed and passing out. I guess I'd been more out of it than I had originally thought, because all I had was two pieces of bread and a tomato.

_Huh. Must've thought the tomato was an apple and that the sandwich would magically put peanut butter and jelly on itself._ I usually put much more than in my lunches though…

With a shake of my head, I tossed the tomato back in the bag and decided to just eat the bread.

I looked up, to see if Liz had come to some sort of conclusion about whatever it was that she was thinking about, and was met with a glaring and very pissed off Rae.

"Is that all you're eating today, Chloe?"

"Uh…"

"Are you trying to become anorexic, Chloe?"

"U-uh…E-excuse m-me?"

"You heard me. What else are you eating?"

Rae sat down next to Liz, across the table from me, and settled another glare directed straight at me.

"I-I don't have any other food with me today," I answered, hesitant, knowing full well that this wouldn't go in my favor with giving her that answer.

"Girl, do you realize that you will starve on that kind of diet?"

I rolled my eyes and decided to tune out Rae's self-righteous rant. I know how to eat, and I know that having this as my lunch was a poor choice, but I also knew that I was out of it when I made this and that it was simply an accident of someone who is simply sleep deprived, not on a diet.

My gaze wandered around the cafeteria. Passing over everyone. I got the odd feeling I didn't find what I was looking for in the crowd, but that could be any number of things. Maybe it was the fact that the hall monitor, Van Dop, wasn't anywhere in sight? The witch of a woman could really get in your face for the smallest of things.

When I finally focused back in on the conversation at my table, I could hear Liz and Rae discussing what supposedly happened with Derek in the hallway. Unconsciously, I bristled. I really disliked gossip. It was different when you told a story because you were there, but when people got into he-said-she-said, it really bothered me.

The frustration I was feeling was bubbling up inside of me like molten lava.

I let out air from my lungs I hadn't realized I'd been holding and stood up quickly.

Rae and Liz, halting their current argument over what happened, looked slightly bewildered by my suddenly standing. Feeling awkward as they continued to stare at me, I fumbled for an excuse for my behavior.

"I-I…I don't feel so well. I-I th-think I'm g-gonna l-leave lu-lunch early."

They both nodded slowly, as if hesitant to believe me thanks to my stutter. I'm sure, with the look on my face, they believed. The anger I was feeling actually was making me nauseous and I needed to get away. Grabbing my things to toss them in the trash, I turned away from Rae and Liz quickly, and almost instantly heard them start up their argument again.

After quickly tossing my trash, I slowly wandered to my locker, letting my mind wander to a script I've been working on recently. Nothing fancy, just something to keep my mind busy until I had another good idea. It was sort of a mix between horror and supernatural with a smidge of romance and comedy mixed in. Not very special, but I plan on putting a spin on it that's all my own.

The main character, as always, is loosely based on someone I wish I was or feel like I am at the time. I know that this is a common occurrence in writers, but I can't help but hope that that changes soon.

Switching my thoughts back to the story, I try to decide what I want to happen that will make my character tragic. Parental death is a little over used, so I shove that out. Maybe a death of a friend? Or perhaps some circumstances that require personal sacrifice?

With a sigh, I decide to switch to something easier, I can figure out the tragedies later.

_Maybe I should create the love interest?_

I wince slightly at that thought. I've never really liked anyone that much or dated anyone. Maybe thinking of a love interest to create is harder than I –

"OOMF."

And for the third time today, I was falling again.

.x.x.x.x.x.

My eyes shut tight, waiting to fall on my ass; I berated myself for being so goddamn clumsy today.

Suddenly though, I wasn't falling. I was being snatched forward.

My eyes shooting open, I panicked, searching for what was making this happen. Then all I saw was green.

Forest green pierced by an almost golden green.

_That color is so unique…Almost familiar too…Where have I…?_

And then I couldn't breathe, because I remembered where I had seen that color, when I was inspecting _Derek_ after he had sat down.

I could feel my heart stuttering. I was so embarrassed. Not only was I a weirdo for staring at him before, now he could think I was some sort of stalker. _Oh shit. He could think I ran into him on purpose or something. Oh no._

"Klutz."

His deep timber tossed me out of my panic. _What? E-excuse m-m-me? I-I th-thought w-w-we ra-an into-o each oth-her!_

"E-excu-use m-m-me?" I stuttered, noticing the sheer size of him and realizing the situation I was in, feeling embarrassment overwhelm me as panic crept up on me.

Everything felt incredibly warm, like I was suffocating in boiling water. _Oh jeez._

"_Klutz._"

He pronounced the word like I was mentally incapable of understanding him, not just confused. I could feel snips of anger licking at me. _Oh! I oughta…_ Nothing. I didn't know this kid, and he was much, much, much bigger than me. Checking my anger where it was, I took a gulp of air. I needed to not do this right now, and get out of this situation.

My arm throbbed.

I glanced down to the offended appendage, and discovered _Derek_ had it in a vice grip. I just stared for a moment, finding myself perplexed.

If I thought about it, I probably would have realized that my next actions were not the wisest of choices, but in the moment, it felt logical.

My head snapping up, I glared into _Derek_'s eyes. "Would you, kindly, release my forearm."

The voice that came out of my mouth, demanding and authoritative, was unrecognizable to me. I'd never heard myself say something even remotely close to that, let alone in that tone.

The fire on my cheeks flamed as _Derek_ released my arm. We were both stunned by my voice, only his was written in his eyes, while I hoped upon hope that mine wasn't all over my face. I wanted to read more deeply into his eyes, but as my cheeks burned more fiercely, I knew I was losing the courage to do so, and decided it was best to make my escape around the corner now.

And I did.

.x.x.x.x.x.

The rest of the day seemed to slip by in a blur. I stayed awake for the rest of my classes, even though I could feel the need to sleep eating at me. It wasn't exactly tempting to sleep in my third hour though, my ALF class, or Analyzing Literature and Film. It was my absolute favorite class so it really never would be a problem, but this time I was wide awake because I could feel Derek's glare on the back of my head. This was the one class where I chose to sit in the front row closest to the teacher's desk, I was regretting that today though.

I tried to focus on what Mr. Lampe was saying, but all I could think about was how badly I needed to sleep, how stupid I felt for staring at Derek, and about the Haunted House coming up next week. I had so many things to do this month. _As soon as I get home, I'm sleeping._ I didn't have any homework in my "B" day classes and I could catch up on my "A" day homework some time tomorrow.

When I heard the last bell in fourth hour, I realized I couldn't stay after to help Crew with the Haunted House, and was thankful for it. I was too tired and Liz was my ride home.

As we left the parking lot though, I realized I needed a ride to the mechanic by 4 o'clock and that she was the only one around.

After begging her and promising her that I owed her one, despites Liz's saying it was unnecessary. I thanked her as soon as I got to the car shop that wasn't even eight minutes away from my house and waved her off.

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long. My car was waiting for me and all I had to do was pay.

Feeling my sleep deprivation coming at me hard, I paid the mechanic as quickly as I could, nearly jumped in my car, and drove home as quickly as possible.

I barely even remember sinking into my bed before passing out. I don't even know if I shut the front door or whether or not I changed. Only one thing was on my mind at that point.

_Sweet mother fuck, I need sleep._

And sleep I most certainly had, albeit a restless one.

.x.x.x.x.x.

**Author's Note:**

**I know the end seemed a little rushed, but I wanted it to seem like her day started out super slow and then she rushed right on through it after Derek.**

**Anyway! Thank you xxlovelaughlivexx and Crixtine for the reviews!**

**Any questions, criticisms, advice, or concerns, REVIEW!**

**Thank you!**


	4. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkest Powers Series.

Chapter Three -

I'd had weird dreams again last night, and woke up in a cold sweat, still in the clothes I had worn yesterday. I was mildly confused, but decided it wasn't that big of an issue and had quickly gotten ready, almost forgetting to make myself some lunch.

As the day went on, I tried to convince myself that the dreams didn't bother me, somewhat halfheartedly, because the dreams just felt so foreign and strange.

In AP Psych, all I could do was sigh my way through it. Rae was in the class with me, but I still found myself mildly irritated with her. I could justify her talking bad about people who had wronged her in some way or had made fun of her, but it really bothered me that she even talked bad about people she didn't even know and had nothing to do with. I even found it difficult to sit next to her, and was mad at myself for acting like this. I have always been a forgive and forget kind of person, but the fact that she talked bad about people she didn't even know made me nervous about what she'd say about me as soon as I turned my back.

That thought alone irked me into being silent through my entire first hour and rush off to Seminar as quickly as was possible.

For the first twenty minutes of Seminar, I sat in my home room, as we're all forced to, and watched the morning announcements. Needless to say, it's always a rather painful experience.

After getting the nod from my Seminar teacher that we could "travel", I hopped on out of my seat and nearly ran on down to the performing arts wing.

Making it to the auditorium in record time, I sat in the hallway as I waited for the rest of the Drama Club and for the Club's mentor, Ryan, to show up.

As I sat, I was beginning to let my mind wander to yesterday's several embarrassing moments. I'd bumped into Tori Enright and Derek Souza, who in some weird way were related through Simon Bae. I'd never really talked to anyone in their family, and yet, yesterday I ran into half of them. It was bizarre, partly because they'd moved here around the same time I had and Derek had just had that fight this weekend supposedly.

Sighing, I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes.

_This is none of your business Chloe. Stop thinking about it._

When I heard someone coming down the hall, I removed my hands and waited for the stars behind my eyes to clear.

"You're Chloe Saunders, right?"

Shaking my head to clear the stars quickly, I looked up at the person who had come up to me. Lo and behold, it was the other member of the family. Simon Bae.

.x.x.x.x.x.

I stared at the boy for a moment. He was tan with bright blond hair that was spiked up, making his almond shaped hazel eyes clearly visible on his angular shaped face, complimenting his lean build.

"I was told I would find you here," Simon said, after I nodded that I was indeed Chloe Saunders.

"Ryan told me that you were in charge of the Haunted House, and my brother and I –"

And I zoned out.

_His brother and…What? I just can't get away from this family apparently._

"So yeah" Simon said with finality, finishing whatever it was he was saying to me.

"S-sorry, what did you say?"

Simon chuckled, his eyes lighting up with mirth. "I was wondering if my brother and I could help out with the Haunted House," he clarified. "We're pretty good at that sort of thing, and I'm decent with a brush while Derek is…" he trailed off, glancing behind me.

Perplexed, I turned around quickly to see what he was looking at, maybe Ryan had shown up.

My eyes met a powerful green.

_Seriously?_

I felt my eyes widen in shock…and noticed how Derek seemed to glare at my reaction.

For a moment I was confused, and then I remembered our last little interaction and how swimmingly that had gone and flinched ever so slightly.

Derek noticed.

"Simon…" Derek sighed, an edge to his voice. Clearly Simon hadn't informed him that he was planning on having the two of them help out with the entirety of the Haunted House I was head of.

Worrying my bottom lip between my teeth, I could feel the edge of panic start to creep in on me. _There's no way in hell I can work effectively with these two here…but we do need more people in general. Oh jeez._

"Excuse us for a moment, please, Chloe," Simon said to me, yet stared at Derek, his eyes unyielding.

"N-no problem," I murmured as they walked off, I don't think they actually heard me.

The two headed a ways down the hall and, turned away from me so that I couldn't even attempt to read either one of their lips, they began to argue quietly. Or at least it seemed like they were.

Trying to push the worries I could feel building up because of the two boys before me, I stood up quickly in order to get over to the work shop. Yet, as I moved, everything suddenly felt off. Like the world was slowing down and getting much faster all at once.

And suddenly all I saw was green.

And nothing.

.x.x.x.x.x.

I could feel myself drifting through fog. I was a part of the fog, but I was much denser than the fog, like a liquid, I was seeping through it, yet moving along through it like air. I could hear my name from everywhere, sometimes a whisper and other times a shout. It felt wonderful and terrible at the same time.

Then it was gone.

"Chloe!"

My eyes opened with a shock and I could feel them grow big and wide, yet all I saw were stars and glimmers of light.

"Wh-wha-wha…" I struggled with the word, only vaguely aware of its meaning and more certain that it was necessary to say in this situation.

"Chloe." It was the same voice this time, though firmer and much more confident. It was familiar, too. And deep.

_Oh fuck._

Reality hit me like a ton of bricks and I was aware of where I was and what had happened. I had passed out in the hallway, after standing up too quickly. _Hadn't I eaten today? This shouldn't be a problem._

As I began to assess my surroundings, I could see that Ryan had shown up, his glasses slipping down his nose and his hat slightly askew. The man was in his mid-thirties with children of his own, yet he treated everyone that worked on the plays like they were his own children, and worried over every aspect of their lives like a mother hen. This little scene was not going to help the worries that he already had about me.

Holding back a sigh, my eyes moved to the person standing next to him, and made instant eye contact with Simon who looked mildly alarmed and panicked. For a moment, that seemed incredibly sweet. That is until I realized he wasn't looking at me but next to me.

That was when I realized I wasn't on the ground. The ground was a dizzying way below and would have been cold. I was very, very warm.

I whipped my head around so fast I almost knocked out Derek and passed out again. Grabbing my head to steady the dizziness, our eyes met for I'm sure the umpteenth time, and once more in an embarrassing situation. I could feel my cheeks flaming up. Derek looked annoyed. Angry actually. Which was odd…

"What the hell."

Breaking from my train of thought, I shook my head again and went back to staring at Derek.

"Ex-excu-"

"Stop." _Yes. He is very much annoyed._ His voice was deeper than I had remembered it being earlier, and as firm as when he spoke before, almost like it was thick. That didn't make sense though. People's voices went thick when they were overcome with an emotion, usually relating to an emotion such as sadness or lust. It went with extreme emotions and situations. This was not one of those times.

I glanced down quickly to see if I could stand and realized he was holding me._ This just got ten times more embarrassing._

I couldn't help but stare at him then. I mean, he had grabbed me before I fell, of that I was pretty sure, because I didn't feel a single part of me throbbing from hitting solid tile. Well, I mean, I was pressed up against some boy I barely knew, so maybe everything was just confusing. Everything that had to do with this boy was just so confusing. His eyes looked brighter right now, than they had the other day at least, maybe that was just the lighting. How had he gotten over here so quickly though?

I tried to do a calculation in my head real quick, remembering something about objects falling at the same speed or other. As I fumbled with the numbers to figure out how quickly he would have had to get over here from that distance, I saw his nose flare and him inhale sharply.

_What the hell? Did he just smell me? Oh crap. Do I smell bad? Is that why he's making that face? Oh – Wait._

Immediately it registered that he was being snippy with me about passing out and then stuttering. _Oh hells no._ My cheeks began to heat up again, this time not only from embarrassment, but anger too. "Excuse m-"

"Chloe! What's taking you so –" Liz began loudly, rounding a corner as she did, and stopped dead in her tracks. "What the hell happened?" Liz deadpanned, her voice taking on a much more motherly and serious tone than I was used to.

"She –" Simon began, but Derek took over.

"She passed out after standing up too quickly. There is obviously something wrong with her. You're her friend, so you should take her home."

For a moment I was bewildered by the fact that Derek had said so much at one time, but then I realized what he was saying again and once more felt offended. "Acutally, I have my own car and a lot to do today so –"

"Alright. Come on Chloe."

Before I knew what was happening, I was being set down and escorted out of the school, all before I could even tell Ryan what I had planned for the Haunted House today.

.x.x.x.x.x.

I was sitting on my living room floor with Liz lying next to me within fifteen minutes. I almost felt dizzy from everything that had happened within seconds of each other. Nauseous even.

I placed the back of one hand over my forehead, trying to steady my instable thoughts and keep my head cool. Then I put the palm of my other hand over my abdomen, and felt my insides squirm, almost like my intestines wanted to barf themselves up. I could feel the muscles cramping horribly and crushed my eyebrows together in confusion.

_Oh. Shit._

I jumped up and ran to the bathroom.

I vaguely heard Liz so the same, calling after me and asking if I was going to be sick.

Quickly shutting the door, I hurriedly pulled my pants and unders down. Lo and behold, I had finally started my period.

"Liz!"

.x.x.x.x.x.

After having taken me to the nearest drugstore, Liz left me alone with my thoughts.

Honestly, I was super excited because of the fact that I had finally started my period. I didn't feel completely inadequate, and I felt mildly proud of myself. The more I thought about it though, the more I realized that I must have started when I passed out, and that was probably the reason why too. Then, of course, I had to review everything that had happened after that, and the embarrassment of the entire thing hit me like I had walked straight into a wall. Once again Derek Souza had witnessed me not being normal. _Awesome. Now one more person thinks I'm a freak._

As I tried to remember the expressions on everyone's faces, I realized something. Derek had caught me and told Liz to take me home, and not only that, he had sniffed the air and then said so. My thoughts got ahead of me and I wondered if he had known that I…

My cheeks flamed up again. _First off, not possible. Second, what the hell Chloe. Third, that would be so incredibly mortifying that it shouldn't even be thought about. Fourth, stop being silly, it's not even possible._ I tried to take a few deep breaths as my mind raced and leaped ahead of me. Sometimes my imagination really got out of control and took off without me.

With a sigh, I realized I should at least make some dinner and do some homework if I can't work on the Haunted House.

I searched the house for my backpack for a good twenty minutes before realizing I had left it at school. _Go team. The team is you. The game is life._

"Uuuugh. Oh, come on."

.x.x.x.x.x.

The next morning I got up early and left for school so I could grab my backpack and finish some of my homework before school started. There was also the fact that I was a little panicked about the whole period thing, but whatever.

I got in my car and drove to school without a snag, there was hardly even any traffic. I was at school in record time and there was hardly anybody else there so I ended up with a sweet parking spot right next to the entrance for the Performing Arts wing.

Jumping out of my car and slaming the door, I muttered "Score!" as I ran towards the door.

Once I reached the doors, I gave them a tug, but nothing happened. Grimacing, I tried again, pulling harder and using both hands. Nothing.

"Uuurgh." I snarled and kicked the clear door. "Seriously?"

"Woah there girly."

My back stiffened automatically. That voice was familiar, and not in a good way. He had graduated two years ago but still felt compelled to creep around school grounds, and he helped out with the football team a lot. _Well, shit._

"Would you like my assistance?" The phrase would've sounded polite out of anybody else, but from him it sounded incredibly creepy with double meaning and sent a terrible shiver up her spine.

"N-n-no th-thank y-you L-li-liam." I bit my lip. I knew my stutter gave him some sick sense of pride but I couldn't help it. No matter how hard I tried I still stuttered when nervous and this boy made me pee-my-pants nervous just on sight. The fact that I was locked out of the school in the still dark early morning made me more nervous than I have ever been in my entire life.

Liam chuckled but I only barely heard him, my mind was busy going a mile a minute and trying to figure out a way out of this horrid situation. Vaguely I noticed how he stepped forward to try and box me in so I couldn't escape him as easily.

"I wouldn't be so sure cutie." Liam sneered.

"N-n-no r-re-re"

"Hey Chloe! There you are!"

Letting a strangled breath escape, I quickly stepped away from Liam to see who was calling for me from the parking lot.

The shock that spread across my face was only there for a moment or two, until I realized Liam was watching and I had to sell this so I could get away. "H-hey Simon, took you long enough! Heh…" my eyes locked on Simon as he quickly jogged up towards me and tried to stifle my nervous laughter from bubbling up.

"Sorry, we had to wait for Tori to get up and going, so that took forever!" Simon waved his arms about, like he was explaining a very dramatic and intense story when he was really just making up an excuse, I didn't even see his brother with him, let alone Tori.

Hoping Liam was preoccupied with Simon, I glanced back at him to see if he believed Simon. The look on his face said he wasn't, and he wasn't going to leave either. He looked like he was sizing up Simon and had decided he wasn't any sort of challenge already.

_Well crap._

_Maybe we could just start walking and maybe he'll leave us alone? No, he'd follow. There's no way of awkward-ing him away either. Maybe we –_

"Oh, there you are bro! I was wondering what was taking you so long." Simon said, a smile in his voice.

Surprised by the change in conversation, I whipped my head around to Simon and my eyes landed on none other than Derek, with my black and blue messenger bag in his hand, and both his and Simon's back packs over his shoulder. Derek's face was blank though, more like set in a frozen serious expression, actually. It was like he was stuck between emotions and wasn't sure which to let through and decided to just go with nothing instead. But his eyes, they were shinning bright again though, almost like they were glowing green in this early morning purple darkness.

There was silence for a moment, I think Simon had expected Derek to respond, but he said nothing, just stared at the space over my left shoulder, his expression still painfully neutral.

For a moment I was confused, and thought he was trying not to glare at me, but then I glanced over my shoulder and realized that Liam had moved again, and was now much closer than he was before. I bit back the rising panic and turned my gaze back to Derek. I knew my eyes were wide with mild fear, but figured it was better for Derek and Simon to see me panicking than Liam.

I could feel Liam taking another step forward, but before he could even reach me Derek was right in front of me, offering me my bag. "Chloe, you forgot this yesterday. We grabbed it for you." He said, his voice sounding slightly strained.

Nodding, I reached for my backpack, and as soon as my hand grasped the strap, Derek yanked me forward towards him. Surprised and shocked, I tried not to yipe when I ended up flying into the solid wall that was his chest.

My blush was instant and spread quickly across my face and down my neck. _Why does this keep happening?_

"Woah there, Chloe. You sure are clumsy." Simon teased, I knew it was for Liam's sake, but my blush flamed brighter all the same, I could feel it spreading to my ears and further down my neck. _Oh jeez._

I stumbled about, trying to right myself without bumping into Derek again or hitting Simon. Quickly righting myself I faced Liam again, only standing in between Derek and Simon this time.

"Well, we better get going now. See ya Liam." Simon said with a wave to Liam. And with that we dismissed Liam and walked towards the main entrance to the school.

.x.x.x.x.x.

The silence was beyond awkward. Breaching suffocating-ly awkward. Simon hadn't said a word, and that was certainly saying something. At the same time, I just met these two, despite the fact that we'd been at the same school for a couple years now. No matter what I knew nothing about them and they hardly know me at all, and yet…

"Has that happened before?" Derek's deep baritone released me from my ponderings.

"Wa…What?"

"Has. That. Happened. Before." Derek harshly bit at the words as if they offended him by merely existing. It was…odd. At the same time, he seemed to articulate each word as if I wouldn't understand him otherwise. As if my lower mind couldn't grasp a concept that came out of his mouth. It was infuriating.

"Yes, but I don't understand why you have to go and be all angry at me just because I didn't hear you the first time. It's not my fault you tend to mumble and that I happen to be much shorter than you. It makes a bit of a difference when the person talking to you is a foot taller and not even looking at you. I mean really."

As soon as the words left my mouth, my hand slapped over it, as if that would stop them, but I was a few moments too late. My eyes were wide with disbelief. I couldn't believe I had just done that. I never snapped at people. I barely even _talked_ to people, and here I was insulting the guy that had just saved my ass mere seconds ago.

"I-I-I'm s-so sorry."

"Heh. Whatever."

And with that, Derek walked off and up into the school.

"Di…Did he just chuckle?" I muttered to myself, incredibly confused by the boy that was Derek Souza.

"Yes, actually. He did."

Slapping my hand over my mouth once more I turned around so fast it almost hurt. I had forgotten Simon was there. _Oh jeez. This is just…not my day._

.x.x.x.x.x.

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry this was so slow in coming! I started a new job and I'm full time so my schedule has been super hectic! Hopefully that's mellowing out now though. So, thank you for reading! And hopefully the next chapter will be up soon.**

**And thank you to Crixtine, Crying Silently, and ChloeXDerekDP for the reviews! They really motivate me and I appreciate them so much!**

**Any questions, concerns, or advice, REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkest Powers Series.

Chapter Four -

After finally getting into the school, I sat in the hallway and did my homework as I leaned up against my locker. It turned out that I had hardly any homework and there was really no point in showing up this early for it at all.

After finishing a worksheet for Physics, with some difficulty, I thought about sleeping in front of my locker, but by then a decent amount of the student body was already milling about the hallways before their first hour.

So I quickly grabbed my book and notebook for Pre-Calc and made my way to the second floor.

As I entered the math hallway, I realized I had left my calculator in my locker, and for a moment I thought about grabbing it, but those thoughts were halted by none other than Derek Souza. There he was, looming in the hallway.

"Is he really that big?"

He was leaned up against the lockers and yet he towered over them by half a foot at the very least. And he was slouching! On my best day I can only just barely reach the top of my locker, I've never seen it though. He really was a large boy. And not in the chubby kind of way, more of he just was massive. It's hard to describe really.

Then I realized that I was staring. And that I was being caught staring.

Again.

I took a step forward and opened my mouth to say something, but realized he was obviously thinking deeply. I mean other world, doesn't know where he is, deeply. He clearly hadn't noticed that I was staring at him.

_Does that mean he was staring first? Or maybe he just hasn't noticed yet? Or maybe…_

Immediately I felt my face heat up. Lately it seems that happens all the time. It's starting to feel like that's just how my face is. _My face is going to be stuck this way. Ugh._

Sighing, I realized that I had the perfect opportunity to observe him, that is, until he realized that I was watching him too.

Taking another step forward, I observed him from a director's point of view, like I was trying to understand how my actor was portraying the character that had been given to him. The only problem being I had no idea what kind of character he was to begin with.

Deciding to start with his body language, I noticed that he was still tense, maybe from earlier or maybe not. Either way he was definitely trying to hide a tightened fist and the slight grit of his teeth. Yet, he didn't seem angry, mostly frustrated. He looked almost confused, to be honest. Like he was trying to figure out a math problem, but was missing half the equation.

I narrowed my eyes a bit, and that seemed to be when he noticed I was staring back and quickly looked away, busying himself with the locker in front of him. Yet he made it look like that was what he had intended to do all along.

_The hell._

Then, before I could lose my nerve or decide I could just be seen as a massive bitch by him, I pressed my things more firmly against my side and walked up to stand beside him.

I waited, for what seemed like forever, for him to acknowledge my presence.

"What?" He almost sounded defeated.

"Uh. I-I j-just w-wanted - "

"Spit it out already." There was the harshness again. It just made my so…angry! Irrationally so.

"Well, I was going to apologize for being rude before, but now I see that really doesn't matter. You're ruder than I think I could ever be, so I'll just call it even."

I turned around quickly and made to walk to my class in a huff, but he snatched at my arm again. I almost cried out, but then he lightened his grip, so he was barely touching me.

"What?" I asked, exasperated and voice hoarse.

"Sorry."

I swept my eyes back to him to see his face. To see what expression was on his face before it was gone, because I couldn't determine anything from the tone in his voice.

His eyes were wide and pleading, a strange look to see on him for sure, but the rest of him was already guarded.

It felt like my voice was stuck in my throat, because all I could see were his big green eyes, confused by what it saw and what was going on in his head, like he was at war with himself. _'I get that.'_

I wanted to say something encouraging and wise to him, but nothing came to mind, so I settled with a "Don't worry about it" and was on my way to class after lingering for a moment when he released my arm.

The week went by quickly. Simon and Derek both helped with the preparation for the Haunted House, and they did a great deal of the work too. I was surprised to be honest. We still had until next Friday, yet they worked like it needed to be finished immediately. Not that that was a bad thing. It was fantastic really.

Simon helped finish major projects that needed serious painting and creativity added to them, and when it turned out we needed to add a new hallway than what we had originally planned, he came up with this hanging, ruined toys and puppets idea, making it a cheap fix.

What was even more surprising was Derek. The boy knew how to do anything and everything. He helped with everything from sound, lighting, and tech, to building the last few walls for the set, and coming up with a contraption for the last room that would work every time without fail. It was amazing really.

When I'd be explaining plans to kids so they could start up the work or finish a project, I could feel one or both boys watching me, but as soon as I turned, Derek would be busy with whatever it was he was doing, from cutting up some wood to putting together a wall. Simon would wave though, as if he had been trying to get my attention the entire time.

It was strange really.

Half the time he really did need me, for something like a paint color decision, or an addition to the original design, like adding a pattern to the knife throwers table, or reorganizing the positions of markings on the cannibals' meat table.

Once, I had Simon explain how he was making the blood splatter for the mock walls and how it was different for the plastic and cloth walls we'd made.

He explained by showing me. He'd have one of the painter kids come along with him and make up ways some people were killed or wounded and make the proper movements that would cause the blood to splatter on the mock walls. For those he used the fake blood we had in stock, which we thought was going to be used for all the fake blood.

For the plastic and cloth walls we had set up, he mixed a few different paints, I didn't really understand, it not exactly being my area, but it worked well. It made the set up for the cannibal clowns seem realistic. The whole thing was terrifying to be honest.

The entire time though, he almost seemed uncomfortable doing it. Like he was remembering things he didn't want to, or was uncomfortable with the idea of death all together.

Derek watched when that happened. I could feel it.

He'd be doing something off in the distance, like building a platform by himself or lifting a crate that was far too heavy for any other lone person to carry, but he'd keep an eye on us.

I was never sure if he was watching both of us, or just one of us though…

Anyway.

The two of them made it possible for us to be nearly finished almost a full five days ahead of schedule, which, by our "it might be done ten minutes before the show" standards, made them nothing short of amazing. Even if Derek seemed to be only comfortable with working by himself and Simon liked to basically hold an entire lesson on painting for nearly half the crew. I couldn't help but feel incredibly indebt to the two of them for all their hard work.

And then again it wasn't just that. I could feel them watching me outside of crew too. Both of them. It was the same as crew too, because I usually caught Simon. Derek though, I don't think I ever caught him. I could feel it all the same.

A part of me felt guilty that I was incredibly relieved at this. After that little episode with Liam, I felt super paranoid. I'd find myself looking over my shoulder whenever I was alone, no matter if I was at home or school. Sometimes I'd find myself doing it in class too, right in the middle of a lectured.

I suppose their always watching might have influenced that a bit too. It made me feel like they were waiting for something awful to happen around me.

At the same time, it made me feel like they'd make sure nothing would happen at all.

So, when Friday rolled around and we were nearly done, Ryan, our supervisor, and I decided a pizza party would be necessary to help us finish up the last few pieces for the Haunted House, and then set everyone up with their costumes and rolls. I couldn't help but feel excited, like I could thank them at some point, or show my appreciation through pizza, which was kind of ridiculous actually.

I came in early for the pizza party and the last night of set-up so I could help Ryan with setting up the back room for everybody to eat and make sure I had everything in order for tonight.

All thirty or so members were supposed to be showing up tonight, which was and enormous surprise and I had not expected such a fantastic turn-out. I had even talked to Simon who said that he and Derek would be coming to help finish up, even if it took some convincing on his side, they'd be here.

I was thrilled. The thought that my baby was ready to set up for its final stages of completion, and then it would be in running order, had me bouncing off the walls like I had eaten and entire bag of candy or drank too much Monster or something. Liz thought it was ridiculous that I was so excited, but knew that it was important to me all the same, and even though she wasn't sure what time she'd be coming in, she promised she'd come in time to have a bite of pizza and help with costume assignment.

I was so caught up in my thoughts and delight that I hardly noticed when people started showing up and that our little party was in full swing, with the pizza disappearing literally by the box. That is, until I saw Derek and Simon come in.

Simon came in first, with his usual brilliant smile in place, and Derek came in after him, a scowl marring his face ever so slightly. The two were so different it was astounding, and with the way they were acting, it really did seem like Simon had had to convince Derek to come too.

A felt a sharp pang of disappointment at that. Where it came from, I hadn't a clue. I just knew that I definitely wanted to know these two, no matter how big of a fool it made me out to be.

Staying in my little corner with my can of Coke in hand, I watched as Simon eyed the pizza warily and only took one piece, while Derek stared at the pizza boxes strewn across the table like the entire thing was a small animal that he needed to pounce on immediately in order to claim as his. He only took two pieces though. It was strange. I had seen kids take three to four pieces at a time, easy. I just didn't care to register any of it, but these two could barely take the same amount as a freshman in the back who had only been working on the project for a total of three days, each time talking the entire time.

It was frustrating to say the least.

I wanted the two of them to enjoy themselves for all the wonderful things they'd done for me, even if some of it seemed to be without them knowing and the little fact that it still felt like Derek wasn't exactly fond of me. It felt like I owed them at least this much, mostly because I didn't know of any other way to repay all of this.

Once it was clear that a good amount of us were here and had eaten most of the pizza, I stood up and told everyone that when they finished to go to the auditorium to finish the stage set-up.

Trying to be a good example, I tossed my drink into the garbage and quickly made my way to the auditorium so I could clean up stray screws and such before it was necessary to give orders about and check up on everyone's work.

As soon as I pushed the door to the auditorium open, everything felt off. The hair on my arms was standing straight up, and my head gave a throb.

"What the hell…?"

I brushed it off as the air conditioning being a little over the top in the auditorium. It was a drafty place to begin with, but if the air conditioning was being obnoxious, which seemed to be happening lately, it would be worse than usual.

I went back to gathering screws on the floor. There weren't too many, but there were enough to have my hand full within seconds.

I found one stuck half under one of our mock walls, and figured it wouldn't be too hard, I could just pull it out from under it, besides; if it stays there it could leave a dent in the stage floor, that would upset Ryan.

I got down and gripped the edge of the screw that was sticking out with hand and used the other to wedge the mock wall up slightly so the screw wouldn't scrape against the stage and leave a mark as I pulled it out.

Once the wall was up about a half an inch, I started to tug on the screw, and could feel it biting into my hand, but tried to ignore it. I wanted this entire Haunted House to go as smoothly and perfectly as possible.

Biting out a hiss, the mock wall released the screw and I dropped it back to its original spot.

My grip on the screw still firm, I pulled away from the wall and stood up with a bit of trouble. Turning to toss the screw into a pile that was starting in a corner of the stage, I saw someone was standing there with their back turned to me, just a few feet away, but far enough that it was unclear who it was thanks to the stage's dim lighting.

"Hey! Done already? Wanna help me pick up these stray screws before everyone comes in?"

They didn't answer or show any sign of acknowledgement.

"Hey, are you ok?"

No answer.

I quickly ran up to whoever it was, and realized quickly that it was Liz.

"Liz? Hello. Earth to Liz." I waved my hand in front of her, but she just stared off into space, it was really strange. Liz was always ready to acknowledge anyone and everyone as cheerfully as possible.

I reached out to her, to ask her if she was ok and if there was anything I could do, but she turned to me then, and her eyes were wide and full of terror.

"Oh, Chloe," she whispered.

And then she screamed.

Panicking, I tried to cover my ears while trying to reach out to her and calm her down at the same time, but she collapsed onto the floor and started snatching and grasping at her middle.

That's when I realized there was blood.

So much blood.

All coming out of her abdomen.

"Oh my god!" I screeched, leaping to her and scraping my knees against the stage. "Liz! Liz what happened? How did this -? Oh my god!"

I pressed my hands together and placed them on her stomach, trying to staunch the bleeding, but there was so much. So much blood. It was oozing between my fingers and spreading across the stage.

Liz seized beneath me and blood was coming out her mouth.

Realizing the blood was coming too quickly and there was nothing I could really do to help her, I started screaming and sobbing, a part of me still not believing that this was happening right now in front of me.

Derek was there first. Right beside me, gripping me tightly and trying to pull me away.

Screeching and sobbing, I resisted until I saw her eyes go blank, then I let him drag me away.

I felt him pick me up, but it didn't register, and as he took me away and towards the exit off stage, I looked back to see her again. I just couldn't believe that this had happened. Here, too, of all places.

But she wasn't there.

Nothing was there. Only the screws I had tossed and the group of on watchers were there where I Liz had been bleeding out on the floor just a moment ago. For a second I thought that they had just moved her, picked her up already, tried to help her, so I struggled against Derek. Trying to see where she was and if she needed me, but she wasn't there.

I looked back to the stage floor and saw not a single drop of blood.

She'd never been there, not at all.

**Author's Note:**

So I tried really hard to not make this chapter feel rushed, but I don't know if I achieved that. This needed to happen so I could really get the story going and much more is still to come. So thanks for reading!

Any questions, comments, advice? REVIEW.


	6. Chapter Five

Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkest Powers Series.

Chapter Five -

I was vaguely aware of Derek carrying past and away from everyone, and towards a bathroom, I'm not sure which, but it was definitely a bathroom because I could see the ugly off white tiles that covered the walls and floors.

I felt Derek reposition me in his arms and then set me down on what I guessed was the nearest sink. The bathrooms at our school had the great convince of not having counters, just the sink. Extremely helpful if you needed to set anything down and didn't want to set it on the floor. Note the sarcasm.

For a moment I felt nervous that I'd fall from the edge of the sink, but then Liz came to mind...Just bleeding on the floor…Blood. So much blood.

" –loe. Chloe. Come on. Please, Chloe."

"What?"

Confused, it registered that Derek was talking to me and I was staring blankly off into space…But there was just so much blood.

"Hey! Chloe, no. Stop. Come on."

"Huh?"

"There we are," Derek almost sounded relieved, but he shook his head and turned his focus to my hands. There was blood on my palms that spread up to my fingertips.

"L-liz. Sh– "

"What about Liz? You're the one that's bleeding. Or were you just screaming and crying just becasuse."

"No! Liz! Sh-she was there! She w-was o-o-on-n the floor a-and sh-she w-was bleeding ou-out and th-there was blood. So mu-much blood. Blo-blo…Oh god. Liz." I could feel tears streaming down my face and my throat ached from holding the sobs back that were scratching at me to come out.

"Chloe." Derek sounded defeated and just…beaten, like he was accepting something he hadn't wanted to, or was a lawyer who had just lost a case. "Chloe, Liz wasn't there. What you saw didn't happen here. Liz hasn't shown up yet. You need to calm down." With that he gripped my wrists, like he thought doing so would cause my attention to be firmly placed on him. Or maybe he was just trying to get the message across.

It took me a moment to understand.

"Wh…What?"

"I didn't see Liz bleeding out on the floor. Nobody did. Only you did, Chloe. Liz hasn't shown up yet."

"Oh," I nodded, trying to convince myself that what he said was true. At the same time…_I know what I saw. I'm not crazy. I'd never imagine something like that. Especially imagine something like that happening to _Liz_ of all people._

"Here," Derek sighed, lifting my hands as he did so, "let's clean up your hands and then we'll call Liz so you'll believe me."

I nodded my consent and bit my lip. I hadn't really noticed that I was bleeding, but now that I could see it, there was definitely a throbbing coming from the palms of my hands that was rather uncomfortable.

Derek back at me, as if assuring himself.

"Right, ok. I'm going to run to the Crew Shop real quick and grab the first aid kit. Stay here. Don't. Move."

I just nodded again, hoping I'd stay on the sink while he was gone.

It felt like it was forever that he was gone, but at the same time it felt like no time had passed at all, like he was suddenly gone, and then he was suddenly back like he'd never left to begin with. It gave me a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach, and decided to analyze that little bit later. Now was not the time.

Once Derek was standing in front of me again, he had me twist so he could wash the blood off my hands with a paper towel. It didn't take too long; it seemed the bleeding had subsided a bit and was already mostly dried blood. The cuts were a bit deep though.

Derek didn't say much while he cleaned me up and sanitized my cuts. He was really concentrating. It was funny, actually. His face was so serious, like this was one of the most important things he was going to do all day.

When he reached for the bandages and antiseptic cream, I noticed he really was taking this that seriously, it wasn't just his expression. I didn't even know what to think of that, let alone feel.

As he finished up with wrapping my palms with the bandages, I realized that I had stared at him the entire time and hadn't said a single word. Normally, I would've considered that incredibly rude of me and apologized, but I was still numb from what had happened.

Only half-aware that Derek was talking to me, I just nodded, and before I knew it had me in his arms again and was carrying me out of the bathroom.

_I could get used to this…Given that it keeps happening…_

My cheeks flamed. Shaking the thought off, literally, I was smacked in the face with the memory of Liz again. I paled quickly.

"– and should leave."

"Hrmm?"

I returned my attention back to Derek, realizing that I had been staring at his neck and had head resting on his shoulder. My cheeks tinted slightly but I tried to fight it off and it quickly ebbed away.

Derek sighed and restated his sentence again. Surprisingly there wasn't a trace of sarcasm or annoyance in his voice. His sigh had even sounded sad, not irritated._ Strange…_

He explained, again, that he thought he should take me home and he'd call from there to get into contact with Liz somehow. And then she'd come over and tell me how ridiculous I was being, or so he reassured me.

The only problem being that I didn't want to go home. No one would be there and after what I had seen I was pretty positive tonight would be full of all kinds of nightmares. There'd be no one there, and there was no way I was telling Aunt Lauren about this so she could come over and lecture me about bull. Without Aunt Lauren though, that left only Liz, and I was pretty sure Liz wasn't going to be available for any sort of bonding anytime soon.

I choked back a sob.

"Chloe?"

"Hm?"

"Does that sound ok? Or I can just take you home an– "

"No."

My voice was hoarse when I said it, a little desperate too, like I was afraid of my own house. In a way, I suppose I was.

"Ok…" Derek hesitated, trying to come up with a new plan of action. He seemed to know that I agreed on the leaving part though, so he started heading towards the nearest exit that lead to the parking lot, which was only a hallway away from the crew shop.

He stopped suddenly.

"Where's your backpack?"

Confused, it took me longer than it should have to answer, but he was patient. "Car. Why?"

"Where are your keys?"

Even more confused now, I told him they were in my back pocket, and he quickly set me down. I let out a huff, disappointed and confused. I just wanted to leave. I crossed my arms then, half to comfort myself and half to show my irritation, and stared down at my shoes while waiting for Derek to do whatever it was he needed to do.

Maybe he was lying and was just going to shove me off on somebody else now. I wouldn't really blame him though. I'd told him I'd just saw my best friend die, but there was nobody there. I'm not sure I would want to deal with a girl who was a bag full of crazy that I hardly even knew.

But, I wanted Derek to stay.

He made me feel safe, and that was exactly what I needed right now. He was so sure of himself and strong. Confidence just wafted off him he had so much, he had enough to spare and use as cologne.

"Chloe."

I tore my gaze from my shoes and halted my thought process to look up and see Derek with his hand out stretched in front of him.

"You want to hold hands?" I mumbled, confused. _Is he kidding?_

"Keys, Chloe," he chuckled.

I muttered an "Oh" and handed them over, starting to feel too tired to feel embarrassed at this point.

_Wait…Why would he…?_

I reached back out for my keys, "Wait. Derek, what do you need them for?"

He gave me a **Duh** sort of look. "So I can drive you home Chloe, why else?"

I scrunched my face up.

"Why my car?"

"Because Simon and I drove together, and he's staying. Come on Chloe."

And with that Derek took my hand and led me out to the parking lot.

"Which car is yours?"

"What? Why?"

Derek sighed.

"Chloe, please, which car is yours?"

"Oh. Um, it's way over there."

I got on my tip toes and pointed towards the middle of the parking lot. About two aisles away and twenty parking spaces back.

"You parked in the middle? You expected to leave after everyone else, when it was dark, and after a creep like Liam harassed you only a few days ago, yet you still parked in the middle of the fucking parking lot?" Derek was trying to speak calmly, obviously knowing by now that I didn't respond well to his sarcasm and rudeness, but his irritation was practically wafting off of him.

I didn't really see what the problem was though. I found a parking spot that was a pull-through, and I was fine with walking a ways. No one was ever around here on a Friday anyway. Football games were held over at the old high school, they had the better football field, and nobody wanted to stay long after school, not even the teachers. There was nothing to worry about.

So I just nodded and explained that I didn't have a problem with walking.

Derek put his head in his hands and pushed his hands back until the heels of his hands rested over his eyes, where they stayed for what felt like forever.

"When this is all dealt with, remind me to tell you all the things that are wrong with what you just said," Derek muttered, his voice muffled, "Ok? Ok."

I just nodded.

When we finally reached my car, Derek struggled with my keys, trying to find which was to my car. I gestured for him to hand me the keys, but he just pretended like he didn't even see the gesture.

_Men._

"Where's your car remote?"

"What?"

"Your car – You don't have one do you."

"Do you mean the button thingy that can unlock it?"

Derek sighed again. "Yes, Chloe, that is exactly what I am referring to."

"No. That object is not in my possession. I can use big words too."

Again he sighed.

Once he unlocked the car, which actually took him a while, I took that as karma, we both climbed in and he started up my '96 Ford Taurus. Then off we went.

After about ten minutes and realizing that we weren't heading towards my house, and that he hadn't even asked where I lived to begin with, I started to wonder where the hell he was taking me. I didn't really feel compelled to ask though. Mostly, I figured he either thought it was so obvious that it wasn't necessary, or he was going to explain when he was good well and ready.

I partly didn't ask him because I knew he was frustrated and I didn't want him to end up even more frustrated with me if I started bothering him. He was being really nice and helpful, something that was pretty much unheard of when it came to Derek unless it had to do with his family, and even then it was rare to hear of him being nice to Tori.

After another ten minutes had past I was starting to get antsy. I was repositioning in my seat or moving my hands from one spot to another every few seconds. Derek must have noticed because he let out a curt "Stop that" that was just loud enough for me to hear him.

I immediately froze in the position I was sitting in.

When I didn't move for three minutes, my mind started to drift back to Liz. She looked terrified. I could **feel** that she was terrified. Then she was bleeding everywhere, and there was nothing I could do. She saw me, knew I was there, and I couldn't even help her. What if she thought I just wouldn't help her? I tried. I did. There was just so much blood. I couldn't even tell where it was coming from. There was just blood.

So much blood.

Just blood.

Blood…

That was all I could see. Blood. Blood everywhere. Blood. All over Liz. Blood. All over _Mom_.

_Oh god no._

_Don't go there. Not now. Not here. You can't. No!_

I was already there though.

_I was in the back seat again, my car seat holding me in place as I stared at Mom. She was on the ceiling. That didn't make sense though. Mommy can't be on the ceiling. How can that happen? No. Mommy's not on the ceiling. I'm on the ceiling, but I'm in my chair. Where's Mommy's chair? Why does she look weird? What's all that red stuff? Mommy wore a blue shirt today, where'd the red come from._

_Red._

_Blood._

_Everywhere._

_The car._

_The car's upside down! Mom! Mommy! What's wrong?_

Suddenly I wasn't six anymore and I was watching Liz die, not my Mom. It was strange, I'd never noticed the resemblance they held, but they were both pretty, tall, blonde, confident, kind, and dying in front of me.

_Liz?_

_What?_

"Liz?"

"Yeah, I know. We'll call her as soon as we get to my house. We'll even have Tori call her, ok?"

"Derek?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

"Hm."

I wanted to say "Thank you" and be specific, but at the same time I wasn't sure if he needed to know that much about me just yet, or even if it was important right now. With all that was happening I probably wouldn't even remember half of this tomorrow. I'd be thankful if that happened actually. I think I'd want to remember the part where Derek was nice to me though. Yeah. That'd be nice. The rest I could do without though.

"We're here."

I snapped my head up at that. Where was here again? His house?

"Ok."

As Derek parked, I tried to get a good look at his house. I was surprised to see that it was very…_normal._ I just, I guess, hadn't expected that. The house was rather average, decent size, but not extravagant, it was even white with black shutters and roofing tiles. Another odd thought was that Tori and Simon lived here. This house seemed too normal for all of them to live here, but that was a thought process for another time, and when I wasn't ready to cry or throw-up at a moment's notice.

"Come on, let's go," Derek murmured, already opening my door and unlocking my seat belt. I didn't even bother to give a snarky "I can do that myself." I felt nauseous and I could feel a pounding in my head that throbbed from the back and bounced off my temple. All I did was nod. It was beginning to seem like that's all I could do. _Great. Derek either thinks I'm stupid or a prissy rich girl by now._

Gently, like I was fragile and anything beyond that would break me, he grasped my upper arm and helped me out of the car. As he led me to the front door of his house I couldn't help but wonder what this meant. Did this make us friends? Is he really taking me inside? Why is the front door bright red? Ok. That's a little weird. Now I can see them living here. Heh.

At the front door, I expected Derek to pull out a hidden key from under the welcome mat or in a fake rock or something, but he just opened the door.

"You don't lock your door?"

"We do. It was just unlocked this time." He sounded hesitant when he said that, which was odd. When he opened it, it didn't sound right either, like the door was broken or something.

"Oh."

**Author's Note:**

Sorry this chapter is kinda short, but I think that's how I'm going to have them now, then there will be more and they will be more frequent! So, thank you so much for all the favorites and follows and the wonderful reviews! I appreciate those so much! I'll try and update sooner for the next chapter! Thank you so much for reading!

Any questions, concerns, or advice? REVIEW!


	7. Chapter Six

Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkest Powers Series.

Chapter Six -

Derek escorted me into the house and down the hall until we were in what I could only assume to be the Living room, with a black leather "L" shaped couch across from a television and adjacent to a loveseat.

"Sit here. I'll be back." Derek murmured as he sat me down on the couch and disappeared again into the hallway.

For a moment I was confused and wasn't sure what to do, but once I realized the couch was comfortable, I started to drift off.

Once I knew Chloe was asleep, I started to look for Tori. I knew she was home, and that she would want to know about what happened. Liz was her friend and she was better with this sort of thing anyway. Plus she was the one who would be calling Liz. I had figured Chloe would end up sleeping anyway, after what she'd been through there was no way she wouldn't be sleeping as soon as she was comfortable, plus, when she woke up she would want to know what the hell had happened to her and Liz.

Knowing Tori, there was only one of two places she could be. Not hearing her in the kitchen, that left her bedroom.

Turning away from Chloe I headed further down the hall and to the staircase, knowing that if I was loud enough, hopefully Tori would hear me coming and not freak the fuck out when I showed up knocking on her door. With a sigh I recognized that Tori was most likely going to freak out with me showing up at her door anyway.

While contemplating exactly how to approach this whole situation with Tori, I continued on to her door upstairs and around the corner, only to find myself hesitating. If Liz really was dead and this was hoe Tori found out, she'd probably blame me. Not that that was a big deal or would even make me upset, it'd just be a pain in the ass to deal with. Especially if she decided to bring it up a lot. She most likely would, which, in turn, would be incredibly annoying.

It was Liz though.

She was a nice girl. **Is**. She **is** a nice girl. She was the reason behind Tori acting civil these past few years. That was someone I'd definitely miss, even if I barely knew her.

Sighing, I knew if I knocked on Tori's door I'd need to be prepared for the worst case scenario, and know that no matter how this turned out Tori would be pissed. And, if Liz really was dead, Tori would be a complete and total mess.

Tori was necessary for this to work out though. Chloe needed to know either way, for her own sanity. Anyone would need to know after what she'd seen in that auditorium. If Liz really was dead though, then what I had already concluded to be true would be proven for everyone else. And if so, then Chloe needed to know. Tori was the first step though.

So, first things first.

Surprisingly, Tori seemed to be in a civil mood tonight, that wouldn't last though. Not after telling her Chloe Saunders was asleep in our living room and that said girl thought Liz, her best and pretty much only friend, to be dead. Nope. That would definitely make things awkward. For sure. Fuck.

_Ok. Maybe I should have thought this through more…_

Tori had let me in her room with a curt "Enter" and was set up at her computer, surrounded by pop cans of various kinds and several bags of ships and candies. Surprisingly, the rest of her room was in a similar state. Both her and Simon were like this. Their work scattered across the room, as if it constantly being on their mind wasn't enough, they had to live in it too. I thought it was funny, mostly because both Dad and I were neat freaks. Well I guess Dad's room was messy too…That's not the point though.

"What up, dork?"

I hesitated. If I responded snarkily, like usual, I'd likely regret it later, but if I didn't, she'd notice that something was up, inevitably leading to all the steaming metaphorical shit hitting the large and brooding metaphorical fan.

"Not much."

_Fuck._

_**Nice job, fuck-knob.**_

_Ugh._

"Alright. What's wrong and what do you need now?" Tori swiveled her chair around so she was facing away from her computer screen, I couldn't see but it was likely covered in her programming codes.

"Well…" my eyes scanned her walls, hoping to happen upon an answer from there. However, her bright and cheery yellow walls, besides the confusion they brought of actually being the color of her walls, gave me nothing.

"You should come downstairs."

Feeling awkward and deciding that that was sufficient enough, I turned around and headed back to Chloe, leaving a bitching and moaning Victoria behind me.

Walking on into the living room where Chloe was sleeping on the couch, I hesitated, unsure if I should go in. Maybe Chloe would rather have Tori deal with this now; it's probably for the best.

_**Seriously? That's the better alternative?**_

…_Ugh._

I glanced in between Chloe and the hallway, uncertain what I should do, but before I could decide, I could hear Tori coming up behind me.

"Shit," I hissed, and turned around in time to see her expression as she came around the corner and saw that Chloe was on the couch.

"What in the _fuck_ Derek?!" I winced, that was a nice and loud screech. "Why is she here?" she hissed, obviously realizing that we didn't need Chloe waking up right now.

"That's a lot of explaining."

Tori made a frustrated sound half way between a screech and a growl.

"Basically, I need you to take care of this by calling Liz."

"I don't see how the fuck calling Liz will make the thing on the couch go away you sack of shit." Tori's voice was cold, her eyes narrowed, but her face was neutral.

_Well fan-fucking-tastic._

_**Didn't expect her to dislike her, huh.**_

I could feel change itching at me underneath my skin. There was a challenge in her voice, and it was in a wolf's, well, my nature to silence those kinds of challenges quickly. I tensed my muscles and ran my hand through my hair, trying to take an edge off my frustration.

Inhaling deeply, I turned back to Tori, hoping that I had calmed down enough. "Please." I looked her in the eye, hoping she would see that this was necessary and that there was no way that this could not be handled.

Tori shook her head and started down the hallway.

"Fine! But I'm not going to like it!" she called from over her shoulder.

"I never expected you to." I mumbled, stepping into the room so I could sit and wait for Chloe to get up.

"_Chloe? Chloe where are you?"_

_I think I've had this dream before…_

"_Chloe dear, you need to come out now so we can work all this out, ok?"_

_Who's voice it that?_

"_Chloe, dammit, just get out here and cooperate!"_

_What? What's going on where am I?_

"_Chloe!"_

"_Wh-_

-at?!"

I sat up quickly, gasping for breath. Gripping the couch underneath me, I realized that I was still at Derek's house and in the living room. _So that part had been real at least…_

"Chloe?"

My head shot up automatically, eyes locking with Derek's bright frightfully green ones. "Are you ok?" I nodded, realizing that Derek was kneeling in front of me and feeling incredibly awkward because of it.

Derek backed up and took a seat in the loveseat while I tried to sort out my thoughts on the couch. This was all so strange. Had I imagined that whole thing of Liz being dead? Am I delusional? _I hope so…_

"Liz is dead."

I jumped up from the couch and turned around. "Wh-what d-do you m-mean?"

Tori stared back at me, her face blank and eyes hollow.

"I mean Liz is fucking dead."

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Derek bulk. He hadn't expected this apparently. To be honest neither had I, I was expecting to find out I was crazy from a stranger. How was this even possible? She had to be joking. A sick joke, but a joke none the less. There was no way that this was true.

"Stop it! You're lying!" I could feel tears prickling at my eyes, begging to spill over and stream down my face.

"Do you seriously think I would joke about something like this?" Tori's voice cracked, unshed tears swelling in her eyes. "Derek, what the fuck is this all about?" Tori gulped, turning her attention to Derek and slightly changing the subject.

Derek rubbed the back of his neck, obviously frustrated and wanting out of this situation.

"We should wait for Dad, he'll explain this better an-"

"Don't you dare try to shove this off to Kit! You answer my damn questions now! You're the one who made me call!"

My head started to swim. He had Tori call. Oh jeez. Well, there's no way she doesn't hate me now. They were friends too; Tori wouldn't just say that Liz was dead. Plus, it didn't sound like Derek had told her why to call either. Wait, he had her call because of what I saw. I saw Liz die in front of me and then she was gone. Liz is dead. Liz is really dead.

I fell to my knees, and before I knew it, Derek was there, right next to me.

"She's really dead. What I saw…Oh god. D-derek! I-I s-sa-saw!"

"Shh…" Derek mumbled, trying to be comforting and rubbing circles into my back. "Can we talk about this later Tori, please?" Derek hissed, the threat idly there in his voice, it wasn't an actual threat, but it was there, lingering in the background.

I didn't hear Tori say anything, but from the creaks the floor boards made, I assumed she had left.

A few moments passed, but it felt like a life time. Then Derek stood, but I felt him more than heard. And not even felt as in how he moved, as in his presence. It was strange, but I barely had enough time to let that thought settle before Derek was talking to me again.

"I'm s-sorry Derek, what w-were you saying? I'm j-just…" I sighed, I didn't know how to communicate this at all.

Derek just nodded. He seemed incredibly patient in comparison to how he's felt and been for the past forever. "OK, well, you see Chl– "

Derek and I both jumped from hearing a loud crash from somewhere upstairs.

Glancing in between me in the door way, Derek muttered a curse and jumped into action. He literally just leaped on up and out of the room. I could hear his hurried footsteps head down the hall and carry off into what must have been the upstairs.

There wasn't a doubt in my mind that Tori had done something. If I had been in my own home right now, I'd probably be breaking something too.

Sighing with what felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders, I turned to get a better look into the hall and wait for Derek to return. Leaning my chin on my raised hand, I couldn't help but feel out of place and wonder if my Aunt was worrying about me right now. Hoping she wasn't.

"Tori never has handled her anger well."

I seized up and rigidly turned back to face the loveseat.

"Wh-what?"

"She's always been a hot head, and has never really expressed her feelings in the best way."

I didn't respond after that, because there sat Liz. Her blood stains gone. Just Liz, with her blue jeans, white baby doll shirt, and adorable knit blue button-up sweater, her hair was even nicely done, just like it is when she's heading out for a party that she tries to convince me to go along with too.

For a moment, relief overwhelms me. I just hallucinated. None of that really ever even happened. Before I can stop myself, I'm sobbing and babbling about how sorry I am and how silly I feel. Liz just smiles the whole time through it, nodding her head like she does to show that she's listening intently and absorbing everything that's being said.

She's always been so good about this, knowing that when I say something, I need someone to hear it and acknowledge it, or it feels like it never happened. She's always understood so well. She's pretty much my only friend, and I hallucinated her death, in the _auditorium_. Where almost the entire drama club saw, and probably thought I was certifiable by now, but that was fine, because Liz was alive.

"Everything's going to be alright, Chloe, I promise," Liz 's smile softens, her eyes seem to sadden slightly, and she reaches for my hand, like she does all the time, to try an comfort me, only her hand passes through mine.

For a moment, Liz has the courtesy to look horrified before simply looking sad and disappointed, like she knew, but was still hoping that wouldn't happen.

My eyes squeeze shut. _This can't be happening, this can't be real._ Only it is real, when I open my eyes again, she's still the same, and her hand is still through mine. It's complete and total proof that something terrible has really happened to Liz.

I want to cry more, but can't.

"I'm so sorry, Chloe," Liz smiles sadly, and only she could make that seem tragically beautiful. I just nod because I don't know what to say. I don't even know what's happening or what's been happening for the past hour and a half.

Liz seems to decide that she has something to say, something to help both of us right now, because she always does, but her eyes go wide in panic.

She straightens and stares wide eyed straight ahead, and then she's tearing up.

"Liz? Liz. Liz! What is it? What's –"

"I'm so sorry, Chloe. I really am." Her voice is heartbreaking and so are her eyes when they connect with mine. Something awful is about to happen, she can feel it, and so can I.

And then it happens.

Liz is gone. She's not on the loveseat anymore, just gone. There's only me and the furniture, and I can't even hear Derek or Tori from upstairs.

I try to focus, try to figure out what's going on around here, but then I hear it, a quiet gurgling sound, like too much water trying to fit down drain, only it's not a drain when I turn around. It's Liz, and she's dying on the floor again. Blood spurting and pooling all around her.

For a second I think to call the police, but then I remember and drop to my knees and just try to staunch the bleeding again, because what else can I do. She's seizing and there's blood gushing between my fingers, and I can't do anything for her, because she's already dead.

I sit back on my heels when she looks dead, her eyes vacant just like they were before.

I stare at her for a moment, wondering what to do, if there is anything I can do, and then it's happening again.

"No. No. I can't do this. I c-can't ha-handle th-this."

So I let out a sob, and a scream. Only it isn't a wale like I had anticipated.

I scream for Derek. It feels like I screech it over and over a thousand times, but it's only twice, and suddenly he's there, scooping me up and crowding me with his presence, and I just cry, because I'm starting to understand.

_I see dead people._

**Author's Note:**

Hello everyone! I am so sorry for the long overdue update! But here, have some Chlerek! Please forgive me! I really am trying to keep this up, I promise!

Any questions, concerns, or advice? REVIEW!


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